Commission Staff complete the first stage of MDEA Training

Five (5) members of Staff have completed the first stage of the Management of Democratic Elections (MDEA) Training Programme which was held at the University of South Africa (UNISA) in June and July respectively.

The month long training was attended by Legal Officer Triza Phiri and Electoral Officer Alistair Kaleji in June. Thereafter three (3) members of staff who included Senior Public Relations Officer Sylvia Bwalya, Internal Auditor Naomi Hara and Acting Operations Manager Memory Mwamba attended the course from July to August 2017. The programme is aimed at strengthening and promoting electoral democracy.

The programme also creates opportunities for continuous interface and interaction among alumni and to look at common challenges in election management so as to find creative solutions. The programme which is funded by USAID was initiated by the University of South Africa in collaboration with the Independent Electoral Commission of South Africa.
The certificate programme is designed to be accessible to a wide range of officials working in election related institutions across the continent including members of political parties, civil society organisations, Members and staff from Electoral Management Bodies. Ms Bwalya told the ECZ Monthly that the course is beneficial to the Commission as it was an eye-opener on issues of democracy and how they relate to the conduct of elections. She said the training also provided an opportunity for the trainees to learn and network with people from various African countries.

She added that the second phase of the course involves the conduct of research by the Trainees on diverse topics on elections. The trainees will later be issued with certificates after successful completion of their assignments.

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For this and more stories read the ECZ Monthly of October, 2017